An atmosphere …so maybe leaf a thought ?

…There are shifts you feel
Somewhere under your rib cage
Somewhere just left of your heart
Something happens
Like something changes
And it will happen plenty times over the years
Even I know that
It’s like a breathlessness
Yeah, it’s best described as a breathlessness…

An extract from the closing lines of Stef Smith’s Remote.

A beautiful play…I’m sure you would agree , this is a beautifully touching play that doesn’t pretend to be anything but what it is : a play about thinking, a play about change , a play about the future even?

Tonight will see the final “Home Performance” of Remote.

7 short weeks , filled with some of the most emotional, challenging and dramatically confusing creative work, I’ve been part of in PACE , for the longest time.

The end of any play run is sad , but the end of “Remote” here in PACE is still so positive. Because in this cast is a ray of hope for all of you , to follow; not just for this cast’s freer delivery , but for their passion for the acted truth of what they do.

I never like to compare projects in a negative way, but in this instance I have to say this is a project to really ” look up to” – the kind of show that should leave you feeling a little green with envy , but for the right reasons.

So you didn’t get to be in it…but maybe with a better focus now , a more honest mindset ….you can be part of what comes next!

Change happens when you least expect it …this cast of NTC 15 realise that now , and when the coin dropped for them is anyone’s guess…?

It doesn’t matter …because they finally saw the ” light “.

Perspective after all , is everything…

You have to take a step back sometimes to see the bigger picture …you maybe stepped back when you moved round the theatre space and looked at PACE youth with different eyes, perhaps thought that some where along the line , you had just lost sight of the very thing that lead you here in the first place?

It’s easy to get sidetracked , to get lost in a crowd anywhere. Only when you are singled out and made to face the truth of what you have let yourself become, do you realise how apathy can sneak up on you and rob of your inner potential.

If anything ,the one thing this cast have got from this year’s National Theatre Connections experience is that they are once again:

ENLIGHTENED

And that is the truly the greatest gift you can get from any PACE ” show”.

It’s not about the praise. Praise only means something when it comes at you for the most unexpected faces.

It’s not about the status . Status is a transitory state, even FB tells us that!

It’s not about the popularity either, there’s no place for being popular in the ” real ” and ” better ” drama space.

Being tough with each other comes with the creative territory, the best drama friendships are forged , when you are able to tell the truth and not hide behind the lie. To know that being what seems apparently ‘cruel’ can sometimes be ‘drama kind’.

It’s not even about what comes next for this show. If LYCEUM is our final stage then LYCEUM will be another notch on our Tree to climb higher with. To reach the next branch…

We are about CHANGE now , we are about the year 15UP.

Nothing else matters to us, not any more.

If you were lucky and saw this play over the 3 nights it performed here and were affected in some way by what you were part of , then let your thoughts matter below .

LEAF A COMMENT !

Not because you think you have to
Not because your worried if you don’t you’ll be ” excluded”
Not because you always just do

Leave a comment because you want to , because you want to matter too. Because for once you are standing up for what is important to you. Because this play affected you and in some small way …changed you.

It doesn’t matter who you are or how insignificant you feel here in PACE , it doesn’t matter what others think of you for doing it …it just really matters now to me , to all of us remotely connected:

” that you care ”

Apathy will make nothing of us all if we let it in ..if we let it make its’ home here in PACE with us.

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16 Responses to An atmosphere …so maybe leaf a thought ?

Can I just start by congratulating each and every single member of the cast for a phenomenal opening night, yous were truly outstanding and really made the play for me! I just want to say that REmOTE is possibly the best thing I have ever seen in pace and touched me in so many ways and not only will I start to look up outside and from my phone but also in pace, I will never again look at anything at eye level!
You guy's truly deserve LONDON!
Thank you for putting on such an inspiring play and delivering such a powerful message!
Nature is pretty cool after all,
Jodie x

The show was amazing last night, it just made me think so much more about if i do 'care' and if i do think about everything around me, in school, in Pace, outside in the park! Everything had a meaning throughout the play and it was so inspiring seeing everyone beimg a part of the play. you guys are amzing actors and actresses and as Jodie says, you deserve London ans ecerying that comes with it!
I loved watching the play
Lucy X

This Dr. Zeuss quote made me think of this remarkable, life changing performance:
UNLESS SOMEONE LIKE YOU CARES AN AWFUL LOT, NOTHING IS GOING TO GET BETTER. ITS NOT.
And I do believe that it is true because unless you want something you have to ask and it goes to show that if you truly want something you have to make a 'stand' for it and don't leave yourself feeling 'REMOTE'. And just one last thank you to all the cast because you wouldn't have changed my life last night, for the better of course. And I know how much you have put your blood sweat and tears I to this and I want you to know how many lives you've changed over these 3 performances and the best of luck for later.
Nathan '

I went to see the show last night with two of my friends from school who thought pace was just a wee thing I go to once a week, but this changed their minds about everything. Personally I absolutely loved it, the interaction with the audience and the way it was laid out was incredible. I loved how at certain points the actors made you feel like you were in the park with them, once in the show I was siting on the steps and crystal came and sat right in the middle of the steps and looked and said " we are having a roast for dinner." That made me feel like I was actually going to have a roast for dinner. When some of the cast came and looked in your eyes and said their line it made me feel connected with the story. I would recommend everyone to go and see this show. I would love to go again. Cara

It's events like these that remind me to think. Have you ever experienced something, for me it's usually a book,song or a play like this, that just sticks inside your head. You can't get rid of it and the whole time it's sitting there you just think about it, turn it over and over in your head as you try to understand why that this thought, those feelings, have suddenly appeared. That's what I felt on the night of this show. I witnessed new views and old ideas be displayed on that stage. Thank you for that.

I walked in one foot then the next, the atmosphere was high and lively. I saw the overwhelmingly blockade right in the centre of the room, bordered round with cautious tape.
It was much to my suprise when I saw the cast, sitting in the audience like you and me. This new,alien kind of theatre were you made your own seats and the actors were casual as if they were there to see the show. The music started. The cast, like moths to a flame sprung up and the show was on the road.
I distinctly remember a constant shake in my leg, an itch, an eagerness. I wanted to be taught, I wanted to learn, I wanted to be inspired.
That moment came when I was close to the tree, under it, through the net. I was captivated. Carla McPherson did it, the guilty suspect. Took me by surprise and in that single moment, I got the play.
The breaking of boundaries, we call the norm. The way that perspective is everything, that being so close to an actor makes you see into their theatre soul and see how bright it shines.
As a audience member, I tend to deviate, I look for what's going on around me, the little things, the subtextual clues around the stage. I certainly wasn't disappointed in that, everywhere I looked I found a new angle, a different story, a new perspective.
The show was coming to an end, the drama ever increasing, the message shinning brighter. I picked up a leaf, it was an orange, brown colour. I ran it through my hands and fingers, and watched the play. It was the sun set part, I stopped and realised,I miss this. I missed going to the park and staying till sun set. Parents wondering where you are, that freedom. I want it back.
That's what I have learned, I might not of been an Aristotle moment or "the" coin drop but the play is about perspective and we perceive differently from others. A coin dropped for me, it may of been a 1 pence piece or 10p but I am still waiting for that 2 pound to hit the floor and when it does, I predict an earthquake.
I don't know how you will perceive this
After all perspective is everything
Adam

Was completely blown away by REMOTE when I saw it on Friday's opening night. As I chased the actors through the theatre and climbed the tree to get a better view of the park, I was transported back to a time when I was younger, when life was simpler and there wasn't constant interference from social media or the pressures of being a teenager.
Throughout the performance I found myself completely enthralled in the little details surrounding the performance. Whether it was a chorus member swaying the branches of the tree in the wind, Skin slowly pulling chewing gum out her mouth and sticking it to various aspects of the set or the simple eye roll of the character, I could not avert my gaze.
The message of the play was so important in our current society and, for me personally, it really hit a nerve. Since the show I have made a conscious effort to look up and hopefully with time I won't have to make the effort, it will just become second nature. After all, only then will I truly understand that, well, nature is pretty cool.
Huge congratulations to CAST22, all your hard work most definitely paid off and what you have created is a work of art. A boundary-pushing, thought-provoking work of art. To say the play immediately changed my life as soon as I left the theatre would be lying. But it has allowed me the chance to have a new out look on, a new perspective, on life. CAST22, you have opened the door, whether I step through and have the bravery to climb my own tree, that is up to me.
-Rachel

Was completely blown away by REMOTE when I saw it on Friday’s opening night. As I chased the actors through the theatre and climbed the tree to get a better view of the park, I was transported back to a time when I was younger, when life was simpler and there wasn’t constant interference from social media or the pressures of being a teenager.
Throughout the performance I found myself completely enthralled in the little details surrounding the performance. Whether it was a chorus member swaying the branches of the tree in the wind, Skin slowly pulling chewing gum out her mouth and sticking it to various aspects of the set or the simple eye roll of the character, I could not avert my gaze.
The message of the play was so important in our current society and, for me personally, it really hit a nerve. Since the show I have made a conscious effort to look up and hopefully with time I won’t have to make the effort, it will just become second nature. After all, only then will I truly understand that, well, nature is pretty cool.
Huge congratulations to CAST22, all your hard work most definitely paid off and what you have created is a work of art. A boundary-pushing, thought-provoking work of art. To say the play immediately changed my life as soon as I left the theatre would be lying. But it has allowed me the chance to have a new out look, a new perspective, on life. CAST22, you have opened the door, whether I step through and have the bravery to climb my own tree, that is up to me.
-Rachel

I was amazed by Remote it was amazing and so inspirational I did leaf a comment when I came out and looked at the pictures and a lot of work was put in to it. Well done everyone who was envoled.
As the others have said , you do deserve London!
Ruth

I was absolutely blown away with the performance last night! It was so amazing to see the transformation from just some beautiful words on a page to a breathtaking performance. I was enthralled from the moment I walked into the Wynd and saw all the display out. Reading each of your little biographies made me realize that each member of CAST22 was just an ordinary PACE member and if each of us put enough work in then the opportunities are endless! Watching the performance, it was so easy to forget that the actors were in fact my friends and people I have done previous projects with. The talent on that stage last night was uncontrollable and I cannot thank you enough for opening my eyes and my mind. The message of the play was conveyed in such a beautiful way that had me completely involved at all points. Mhairi is completely right that I have that bit of green envy in me but truthfully for all the right reasons. Well done to every single member of CAST22 and every single person involved in the production.
Rowan x

I wasn't sure what to expect when I walked into the Wynd on Friday night, but the moment I stepped into the auditorium I could feel this atmosphere. The cast were moving around the audience chatting and the audience were scattered everywhere, it was relaxed and exciting. Before this I had never experienced a promenade performance and to be truthful I was a bit anxious before hand but after I was swept up by the atmosphere in the Wynd I couldn't help but let go and allow myself to be a part of it, to get closer and to travel with the cast through this moment. It was such an interesting way to watch this play come to life and I am very, very glad I got to experience this. My dad came along with me on Friday and he loved it, he wasn't sure what to expect either but I know that he was blown away. So thank you to the cast for creating this piece of art that left me thinking and made me feel something inside, I want to congratulate you all on putting on a mind-blowing, thought provoking performance, and also to everyone who contributed in some way to help bring Stef Smiths REMOTE to life. x

Remote was absolutely amazing. All the actors and actresses did an absolutely stellar job and you were all extremely inspiring. You all deserve to go to London because of all the hard work you put in. You really brought the play to life. The set was amazing and the Directing was brilliant. There were points where I forgot to breathe.
When I walked in I was not sure whether the promenade style was going to world but after the first few times we moved about I was sold completely.
The way the actors interacted with each other and the props and set was brilliant.
This was truly an amazing show and the actors captured the emotions extremely well.
Congratulations everyone!!!!!!

Didn't realise I didn't send this! But I went to see REmOTE on Saturday and I was amazed at the performance, I am definitely fighting for one of the Lyceum tickets! The whole show was beautifully performed and staged, just amazing! That end was one of the most stunning things I have ever seen, loved it! Thank you for letting us come see this fantastic pieces of art

Remote was truly outstanding really did make think. About the world, about my life, about pace. When I read this play for the first time I also thought this but when I saw this play I was so amazed. I mean , how the play that I read could turn into that. It was amazingly directed and was brought to life by such talented actors. Thanks for putting on such a good show.
Ross

sorry this is so late, firstly well done to all the cast of REmOTE, you were all absolutely amazing. Second thing, the play made me realise how apathetic I am towards certain things and one of them is acting, I do love acting because why would I still come every week if I didn't but there's definitely something missing. After REmOTE I didn't go on my device straight away, I talked to my family and although I talk to my family all the time, I sat down aNd had a good coversation with them. Even that is me caring a little but more, I've also worked on my monologue a lot more than what I would of it I hadn't seen the play. Thank you for giving me the kick up the bum that I needed x

Stunning show, simply breathtaking! Its amazing how 1 show can change so much about the way you perceive. Thank you for putting on a true masterpiece and I really hope that the whole enjoyed the experience, even more than I enjoyed the show!